SNUGGLE BUNNY

I wanted to make a little something for a friend's daughter.  She has had a very hard life.  She has cancer and she and her husband have tried for years to have a baby to no avail.   Well, they now have a precious little girl.  I have never met her but just wanted to make a little something cute for the new baby.  

I saw these little snuggles and thought it would be perfect.  I could whip that up in a half  an hour!  WRONG!!!!  Try two days!!  This always happens to me.  It is very simple and came in a little kit.  I didn't really need the kit, but I wanted to see the pattern.  I think it was $12.00 and I didn't think it was really that bad.

I started out by trimming the four corners with an old clear CD that I have used for years.  I just decide how I want it rounded and then just put a piece of painters tape on the edges to make my markings.  This way it will be the same on all four corners.  The first picture is a minky dot fabric and the second picture shows the top fabric which is also minky.   I never embroidered on minky and I don't think I would do it again.  It sewed out fine, but the fabric around the name kind of has a mind of its own now instead of following the grain of the fabric.

Next, I washed the stabilizer out of the embroidered name and had to let it set to dry.  This took several hours.  Now, I was ready to sew the ribbon around the edge.  I wanted to sew it very close to the edge to hold it in place before I sewed the two pieces of material together.  I thought I could sew this on while the material was still damp and I had to go very slow and use my stiletto because this ribbon is pleated and I had to hold each little pleat in place to get it sewed on correctly.  Then I thought I would throw the blanket in the dryer for a few minutes to finish the drying.   

Well when I took it out of the dryer, all of the ribbon shrank!  I was like "What The Heck??"  Why on earth do they do that? Now I had a real mess.  As long as it took me to sew that trim on, I certainly didn't want to do it again.  I guess it was better that it happened to me because I certainly would not want that to happen to a gift that I give someone and the first time they wash it, they have to throw it away because the trim shrunk!  I mean this was a real mess!!  I will never make this mistake again!    Something I won't forget about!

Then off came the trim and then I had to resew it back on.  I stood back then looking at the bunny fabric and I thought it looked kind of thin and cheap like it needed something.  So I decided to add a  thin layer of batting and I sewed it on diagonally with a zigzag stitch.  This looked so much better.  Finally, I sewed the two pieces together with a 1/4th seam allowance and left about a four inch opening at the bottom to turn the fabric with.  After turning I sewed a straight stitch about 1 inch from the edge and I was very happy with it.  It actually is cuter than the pictures and I love the diagonal stitch in the minky, it really adds an extra touch!  The sides look crooked but there not because it scrunches up to be so soft and cuddly.